Flying and Falling
by Randomicity
Summary: Flying and falling are similar that way. TOKKA TWOSHOT-- First piece for Tokka week. CHYEEEAAH! I don't own this show...
1. Chapter 1

TOKKA WEEK CHYEEEEAAAAHHHH! FLUFF-AND-SARCASM GALORE! CHYEAHHH!

Obviously, I don't own this show.

Obvious, I'm obsessed and need something to do.

Obviously, I've been diagnosed with AIDS.

(No, I'm just kidding, just wanted to guess your expression)

And, obviously, ENJOY!

The rules to Love are simple. "Divided we stand, united we fall." This makes sense enough for me, but there's only one problem with that statement.

_We didn't fall united._

I fell off the stupid blimp, grabbing onto Sokka's hand like it was my rope of Life. Because if I let go, I would fall a few thousand feet into nothingness, and not be able to feel the ground on my way down.

Because I was blind, duh, and can only "see" with my feet, on something solid. And preferably earthy.

But of course, I let go of his hand, and sent myself hurtling off into the middle of nowhere. I fell for awhile, listening to him scream and wondering what shade of purple his face was turning at that moment, even though I knew I could very much well die within the next few.

But I _didn't._

I didn't die. I fell, all right, I fell straight through an airship, causing it to crash into the ocean in a no-doubt cool looking volley of flames and metal and screaming people. But I didn't get to see it, because A: I was blind. And B: I was too busy trying to _keep_ myself from dying.

I fell into the ocean, just in time to see none other than Twinkle-Toes himself soar overhead, closely followed by who I took to be Fire-Lord Ozai, who appeared to be winning.

I tried to scream encouragement, maybe, given the total _hopelessness_ of my situation, and ended up swallowing a mouthful of sea-water.

I know, you might think "So what? It's only _sea-water."_ But you _didn't _think about all the things that _live _in it, and swim around in it day-to-day, and happily relieve themselves in the water without a care of the next unlucky sucker to catch a mouthful of whatever it is they last ate.

I didn't taste anything, but I can tell you this. Even the Bending-Water of Katara's tasted better, and it tasted like _swamp. _So anyway, I was floating in the ocean, both literally and non-literally blind, soaking wet, and angry as _Hell_ at those morons who'd made Sokka drop me into the ocean, a few thousand feet below.

I can tell you, this wasn't one of my better days. But it was _interesting,_ so I figured it all evened itself out pretty well. I got to free fall for twenty or thirty seconds, Aang defeated the Fire-Lord, Sokka and Suki (though I dislike her) Made it out all right, and Twinkle-Toes and the Sugar Queen are madly in Love.

All in All, everything turned out just fine.

So why did I feel left out? I'd gotten to kick some Fire-Nation butt, I was also responsible for saving an entire _nation_, my parents were the farthest thing from my mind, and I was finally, totally able to relax after this_ entire_ thing was said and done.

But why didn't I _feel_ like any of those?

I was antsy, I was even more irritable than normal, and it was becoming harder and harder to strike up a conversation with anyone other than Katara, who was shooting me meaningful looks every time she glanced in my direction.

I can tell the expressions on her face were trying to tell me something, but I had _no idea_ what.

Oops. My heartbeat just sped up. Because I know I'm a liar.

I knew what she was telling me. I was blind, sure, but I wasn't _that_ blind. Katara was telling me that _she_ knew that _I_ knew that I was in Love with her brother, and her brother was in Love with my best friend.

And I absolutely _hated_ her for it. She would glance at me with this smug expression and bat her eyelashes, teasing the Hell out of me, and simultaneously trying to annoy me to Death.

And it was working.

About three weeks into it, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, and I couldn't manage a conversation without drifting off into oblivion every fifteen seconds. Maybe it wasn't Love, maybe I was sick in the head, maybe I was losing my mind, or maybe, just _maybe_, if I was lucky enough, it was a combination of all three.

My heart just sped up, again. My own body is fighting against me... Great.

I knew my disease. I'd been stricken with first-degree burns or "Sokka-Itis" Also known as "Having a crush that was _more_ than a crushon a_ boomerang-toting,_ brilliantly misled meathead of a genius.

Isn't that just _wonderful?_

My _body_ says it was, my _body_ all but screamed "GO! GO AND BANG HIM SENSELESS!" while my mind and common sense lurked somewhere in the shadows behind me, laughing about how I was about to make a complete idiot of myself.

Something that was reserved, usually, _especially_ for him.

So here I was, staring blankly at his door, as it were suddenly going to get up and talk to me, giving me excellent advice on what to do. Because I had absolutely _no_ idea what.

Aang had Katara, Zuko had Mai, Ty-Lee had the Kyoshi warriors. (Though I wasn't ever sure if she was a lesbian or not)

Maybe I was fooling myself in denying all this lovey-dovey romantic crap. Maybe I was deluding myself on thinking I was in Love. Either way, Katara always told me (and she said it even more, now, accompanied with that smug grin of hers) That "Emotions were never to be ignored, and you must follow your heart."

It sounds exactly like something she'd say, huh? Either that or something out of a bad movie.

She also said that. "The mind wanders, the spirit yearns, and the heart knows what the heart knows."

Well, my heart obviously knew _something_, and I knew what that _something_ was, and if I didn't do _something_ about it, PDQ, I was going to explode into a million pieces of overly-emotional _nothing._

Whatever it was, there'd be enough to make it explode out of Sokka's over-sized ears. After filling his head, _twice_.

So I'm standing in front of this door, waiting here like a moron and trying to work up the nerve to actually reach out and grab the doorknob. I extended my hand, and twisted it, but my fingers slipped from perspiration, and I ended up placing my hand against the door, instead.

Sokka was in there. I could feel his heartbeat.

I heard mattress springs creaking, and footsteps heading in my direction, the door opened, and I nearly screamed.

Sokka stood there, smiling. "Hey, Toph, what's up?"

I tried my damnedest to seem nonchalant, and it worked to some extent. "I need to talk to you, Snoozles."

He nodded. "Sure, come on."

I entered his room, and the door closed behind us, sealing the door to my future, and my fate.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, I was inside his room. It was a mess, much like my own, but I was guessing, like me, that he knew where everything was, no matter the degree of disarray that the room was in.

I also knew that he was nervous. I didn't know about _what_, but I guessed it was something along the lines of me being the only other girl ever to set foot in his room, besides Suki, who was back home with her Kyoshi warriors.

That made me all the more nervous.

I sat there, glaring at the floor, _daring_ it to come to life or something equally as stupid and start tormenting me on Loving Sokka... If that was even the case... Which my body alone was doing a magnificent job of.

God, I hated feelings.

Sokka, to his credit, didn't say anything. He sat there, polishing his sword and humming something softly under his breath, while I gritted my teeth and gave the floor threatening looks, trying to think of something to say.

Sokka surprised me. He said something, first.

"Hey, Toph?"

"Yeah Snoozles?"

"Can I ask you something?" He turned around, to face me, and I could here hesitation in his voice.

"Sure."

He sighed. "What do you think of me?"

_What the Hell kind of question is that? Is he playing with me?_

I put on a wondering expression, tapping my chin. "Ummm... You're my favorite Meathead."

"I'm not a Meathead!" He huffed, sounding amused.

"Okay, if you're not a _Meathead,_ you're a _moron_."

"Okay then, If _I'm_ a Moron, _you're_ a Moron-_ness!"_

I stared at him.

"Okay, I admit that was horrible. Ummm..." He broke off, thinking. "Priss!"

"Jerk!" I shot back.

"Retard!"

"Short!"

"Buggy-eared!"

"Blind!"

"Hey!" I shouted.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"HA! YOU APOLOGIZED! _Wuss!"_

He glared at me, and than burst out laughing. "You're right, I'm the biggest wuss there's even been."

I looked questioningly at him. "Whatcha mean?" I could feel his heart speed up to the point where I though it would explode, and he spoke.

"Ever since the end of the war, I've been thinking, yanno?"

"Wow." I cracked. "_That's_ a first."

He didn't laugh. "Let me finish!" "I've been thinking about everything. All of us, what's gonna happen now that the nations are rebuilding themselves, where we're gonna end up..."

"Yeah, and?"

"I...Uh..." He gave a short, clipped laugh. "I was thinking, uh..."

"Well, WHAT'RE YOU GONNA SAY?" I already knewwhat he was gonna say, but it scared the Hell out of me to actually hear him _say_ it.

He threw up his hands, sighing. "I Love you, dammit! Alright? I...Love...You."

My heart stopped, my breath flitted away from my lungs, and for a few seconds I couldn't hear or think anything, I sat there, jaw hanging open, finger suspended in midair as if I were trying to make some long-forgotten point, and I croaked.

"I can't believe it."

He stared at me, face solemn. "I'm not kidding."

"No, I mean I _can't_ believe it! It's just...I mean... I just..."

Sokka did something that sounded very unlike him, but it made everything _so_ much better.

"Shut up and kiss me."

I kissed him, and it was like electricity, like I could actually _see_ and _hear_ what he was thinking, and it was pure, insane joy.

God _forbid_ should anyone ever find out about this.

Sokka and I sat there for a moment, trying to recover from what'd just happened, and our hearts were pounding equally as loud, in-time with themselves, until we decided to break the silence.

"So, I uh..."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you later, then."

I smiled at him. "Okay." I got up, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind me, having sealed my fate, welcoming the future.

I was in Love with Sokka, and he loved me back. It'd only taken a few thousand-feet fall from an airship aimed to destroy the greater part of the Earth kingdom, swallowing sea-water, and the end of a War to finally admit this.

Flying and falling are similar, that way.

"Stubborn as an Earthbender" took on a wholly new, frightening meaning.

Now all I needed to find out was that I was sick with some disease, or something...

(AFTERMATH)

The war was over. Peace had been restored. Everyone was happy again, even living in the mess that the War had left behind, they joyfully cleaned it up._ Evey thing was okay, all was as it should be._

Katara smiled, and removed herself from the shadow at the end of the hallway. She had something in her hand.

A small picture, barely recognizable in the near no-light, but it was enough.

Toph was asleep, hair disheveled, drooling across her pillows, a complete _disaster_.

Katara slipped the picture into the pocket of her robe, grinning.

A small platypus bear was caged in Toph's arms, being held onto for dear life.

She was happy that they were in Love, no doubt about that. She was happy, and together, they were so sweet.

Maybe romance was sweet. But blackmail would've been _so_ much sweeter...

Flying and falling are similar that way. Divided they stood, united they fell.


End file.
